Port Arthur (Dallas, Beaumont, Nederland: rental homes, crime, house)

[mamatotex]

We are moving back to Texas (finally!) however to a "new" area to us. If all goes well my hubby would be at a job in Port Arthur. We would like to rent a house as well to make sure we like the area.
What areas do you recommend living in? Commuting for 40 min to an hour is ok for hubby.
I tried looking for rentals online and couldn't find anything whereas in the Dallas area there are thousands.
Anyone have any info on rental homes?
Schools?
Also I work in education as a teachers aide for special education so I would ultimately like to try to work for the same school system whereever my child attends.
Any advice on the area would be great.

[Trainwreck20]

Check the meterology and live upwind (or at least not downwind) of the refineries. Personally, I would live somewhere up in the 'Big Thicket' area north of Beaumont.

[mamatotex]

Thanks for the advice. I have heard that about the refineries. What cities by name, would be decent?
Thanks!

[Guerilla]

Try western Beaumont. That is the nicest area in the whole region.

[BobTex]

I am going to throw my$.02 in here. I am extremely familiar with the area having lived all over Jefferson County at one time or another. !st, I would cut off a hand before I would live in Pt. Arthur. For the most part it is a crime ridden slum with only the newer areas just south of FM 365 as even considered slightly desirable. For a higher standard of living I'd look at Port Neches, Nederland, Bridge City, and to a little lesser extent Groves. All these school districts are good (My mom retired from the Port Neches-Groves ISD as director of their Spec Ed dept more than 10 years ago).

All these towns will put you at most 15 minutes from Pt. Arthur. Prevailing winds are from the SE so anywhere north will put you in the fallout zone for industrial wastes. Just something to consider. Once your 25 miles or so north consider the fallout to be diffused enough to be OK as far as air quality IMO.

Also look at flood plains and try to get at least 25' above mean sea level. Port Arthur has a 16 foot storm levee around it that was almost breached in 1964 by Hurricane Carla. Also as stated above I would consider north of Beaumont. Do a search on "Beaumont" as I have posted some detailed info in the past.

[mamatotex]

Thanks for the input. Definately want away from the flood zone so further north we will go. I have heard about the air quality as well. Son and I both have asthma so it looks like one more reason to go out further.
Is there much availability for rental homes/market?
Hubby will be out there in two weeks for another meeting.

[jread]

Definitely live in western Beaumont. I promise that you want to live nowhere near Port Arthur... it's REALLY bad for so many reasons.

[Guerilla]

And when we say northern Beaumont, stay north of I-10.

[Watchful]

Originally Posted by mamatotex

Any advice on the area would be great.

I would tend to echo the other advice. Port Neches-Groves and Nederland are a lot closer than western Beaumont. They have an industrial reputation but also have better school reputations than Beaumont.

The Hamshire-Fannett school district is semi-rural (rather than suburban) but is also fairly close to Port Arthur and would perhaps have some possibilities....I don't know about rentals there. Good luck!

[aggie2005]

If you can still find property or a home there you might want to try Lumberton, which is just to the north of Beaumont.